Research Press Release
Nature
December 21, 2023
A paper reports that subjects who were tasked with determining the authenticity of fake news using a search engine were more likely to believe that the information was true.NaturePublished in Follow-up experiments suggested that the reason for these results was that the quality of the information participants obtained through online searches was poor. The findings suggest that digital literacy programs that help people searching online evaluate the quality of search results are essential.
As misinformation continues to mount and political divisions continue to widen, the search for truth may become more complicated than a quick internet search. Although research has been conducted on how misinformation spreads on social media, little attention has been paid to how people use search engines to fact-check misinformation. It had not been done.
Kevin Aslett and colleagues conducted a study in which participants (3,006 people) living in the United States evaluated the accuracy of news articles published within 48 hours before participating in the study. In the first study, respondents who were encouraged to search for false information online were 19% more likely to rate false information as true than those who were not encouraged to do so. This test was performed a total of five times with consistent results.
The study also found evidence that participants who evaluated news articles through online searches were more likely to find supporting evidence from lower-quality sources. Aslett et al. refer to this situation as a “data void.” These findings indicate that when using search engines to evaluate news articles, confidence in their accuracy may be increased if the news articles come from low-quality sources. There is.
Aslett et al. note that the findings demonstrate the need to develop and implement robust digital literacy programs that emphasize the use of search engines.
doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06883-y
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